---
title: The Man Behind the Hubble
description: The Hubble telescope peers into the deepest, darkest reaches of space to take photos that are changing how we think about the universe. Bob Alexander tells us what it was like to work on the Hubble and what he learned along the way.
---

[Flight Deck Podcast ](https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck)

# [The Man Behind the Hubble](https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/the-man-behind-the-hubble)

 Written by [Sean Mobley](https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/author/sean-mobley) | Tue, June 26, 2018

Back in 1977, when Bob Alexander was just a young engineer, he was chosen to work on a challenging new project: the Hubble space telescope. During his ten years on the project, Bob—now a Museum volunteer—advanced to the level of supervisor and recalls that with all the experienced engineers working alongside him, designing the Hubble was a pretty smooth operation. This week, we’ve tapped Akshay Murthy, a student at Tesla STEM High School in Bellevue, to do the interview because of his passion for aerospace (thanks Akshay!). Akshay asks Bob about his thought process in designing high-tech instruments like the near-field camera 3, the cosmic origin spectrograph, and the multi-object spectrometer, and Bob gives his insights about what he calls “the finest scientific instrument ever built.”

 

 

Next time you’re at the Museum, come see the Hubble telescope replica hanging above our [Space Gallery.](http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/space-gallery)

 

Host: Sean Mobley

Guest Host: Akshay Murthy  
 Producer: Keny Dutton  
 Webmaster: Layne Benofsky  
 Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

[View full post](https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/the-man-behind-the-hubble)

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